Tulsa World: Huskers Flip Gutsy Sooners // OU Defense Slows No. 1 Team In Gibbs' Home Farewell, 13-3

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Huskers Flip Gutsy Sooners // OU Defense Slows No. 1 Team In Gibbs' Home Farewell, 13-3

By Charlie Smith
Published: 11/26/1994
Last Modified: 2/27/2007 8:14 AM

NORMAN -- On a gray, gloomy day, Nebraska looked like a powderkeg
waiting to explode. But Brook Berringer kept striking wet matches. And
Oklahoma forced the top-ranked Cornhuskers to go the long way.
They finally did on consecutive second-half scoring drives,
one for a field goal and one for Friday's only touchdown. It was
just enough to snare a 13-3 victory and stave off the pesky, but
firepower-shy Sooners.
Whether Nebraska won the battle, but lost the war -- i.e.,
failed to hold its tenuous No. 1 ranking in the polls -- is a
mystery that will be determined Sunday.
"We'll let people decide what they want to decide," said
NU coach Tom Osborne, whose 12-0 team claimed its fourth straight
Big Eight football championship and accepted a berth in the Jan. 2
Orange Bowl.
In the Oklahoma dressing quarters behind the south end zone of
Owen Field, there was no word whether the Sooners would accept a
bowl bid under deposed coach Gary Gibbs. The coach himself was
noncommittal and athletic director Donnie Duncan was equally vague.
"I don't have a reason to think we would not go" is as far as
Duncan would project.
OU (6-5) is in line for a Copper Bowl bid, but could be
elevated into an Aloha Bowl berth should third-place Kansas State
land a coalition bowl bid. The Sooners last suffered as many as
five losses in 1965 (3-7) in the second of Gomer Jones' only two
years as head coach.
If Oklahoma couldn't win the game, though, the Sooners at
least gained a measure of respect in Gibbs' final Owen Field outing
after six years as head coach. There was little doubt which team
was best, but there was lots of doubt which team played best.
There wasn't much offense -- 302 for NU, 179 for OU -- in a
game that started in 47-degree temperatures under low-hanging
clouds that produced a foggy ceiling. OU played Nebraska to a 3-3
standstill in the first half, much to the surprise of 70,216
spectators. More than 10,000 Nebraskans swelled the crowd, the
largest in Norman since a 1992 loss to Southern Cal.
The Huskers' failure to score a first-half touchdown was a
first this season, and the first time since they were treated with
similar rudeness at Oklahoma State last season.
"I was extremely pleased with our defense and how they
fought," said Gibbs. "But for us to win the game, they had to carry
us. Ten points in this game is huge. The defense allowed us to stay
in the game."
With Tommie Frazier suited up on the sideline for the first
time since Sept. 24, Berringer was hounded into three sacks, but
took every snap.
"I looked at Tommie a few times," admitted Osborne. "But we told
the doctors we wouldn't put Tommie in there unless something
catastrophic happened."
Frazier, recovering from a blood clot, is expected to be ready
for the Orange Bowl, tentatively against Miami (Fla.).
Berringer completed 13 of 23 passes (9 of 12 in the second
half) for 166 yards, but I-back Lawrence Phillips was held to 50
yards on 21 carries. Abdul Muhammad caught 5 passes for 98 yards,
including at least one in all three scoring drives.
OU's offense -- the Sooners made only 10 first downs -- was
even more punchless. Jerald Moore and Garrick McGee carried the
load. Moore, with Jeff Frazier out and James Allen hampered by a
cast on his left wrist, carried 15 times, mostly out of the
tailback spot, for 74 yards. McGee was held to 6 completions in 17
passes.
Linebacker Tyrell Peters led OU defenders with nine tackles,
while another linebacker, Troy Dumas, had 11 tackles for the
Huskers. On a day dominated by defenses, there was one strange
quirk. Big Eight defensive player of the year Ed Stewart failed to
make a tackle, believed to be a first in his four-year career.
Darin Erstad and Scott Blanton traded 46 and 25-yard field
goals in the second quarter and another Blanton try from 33 yards
away was blocked by Barron Miles. The Huskers had only 63 yards
total offense at intermission. OU had 132.
Thoughts of an upset of monumental proportions, however,
fluttered away on the southeasterly breeze in the third quarter.
Nebraska put together 76 and 82-yard drives for a field goal and
touchdown, leaving OU the unenvious task of coming from behind with
a backfield depleted by injuries.
Gibbs thought one play changed the momentum of the game. OU
took the second-half kickoff and drove to Nebraska's 41, where Tim
Daughtry punted out of bounds at the Nebraska 15. On third-and-3,
Berringer ran an option keeper for 28 yards. He fumbled at the end
of the play, but the Huskers' Reggie Baul pounced on the loose ball.
"That was the biggest play of the ball game," said Gibbs. "We
established field position and lost it on that one play. I give
Brook Berringer a lot of credit."
Nebraska finished that 11-play possession at the OU 9 --
Berringer connected with Muhammad on a 24-yard pass to the 15 --
and Tom Sieler toed the tie-breaking 26-yard field goal.
OU managed two first downs, but was forced to punt again and
Berringer took his team 82 yards in 10 plays for the put-away
score. He hit Muhammad with a 44-yard pass to the Oklahoma 13 on a
third-and-10 situation and Mark Gilman with an 11-yard pass to the
1. Berringer sneaked the final yard with 13:25 to play.
OU never crossed its 20 on its last three possessions, and
Wendell Davis was forced to intercept a Berringer pass at the goal
in the final minute to prevent another Nebraska TD.
By Charlie Smith

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Show: Most Recent Comment First

Add your comment

0 comments have been made on this story so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.